Changing Times
by paarsetulpen
Summary: When Jan and Madeline find out they'll be getting a new arrival, they have to adapt to the changes it brings to their lives. Pairings: Netherlands/Fem!Canada; slight England/Fem!France, Russia/Fem!America and Spain/Belgium. Human!AU, pregnancy. Rating might change.
1. We're In This Together

**Names:**

Madeline - fem!Canada  
Jan - Netherlands

* * *

Madeline stared down into the sink. She had to hold onto its edge for support, as she felt her knees go weak and her heartbeat picking up pace when she spotted the little plus sign on the small plastic stick lying on the bottom of the sink.

Positive.

Maddie took a deep breath to calm down. She was pregnant. She needed a few seconds to process this realization. It felt so surreal. She felt like something should suddenly happen, something should change but everything around her remained the same. The white-tiled bathroom was as spotless as ever and the warm beams of the early summer's sun still shined through the small bathroom window, just like a few minutes ago when she came in to take the test.

Her mind was racing as she tried to think of how this could have happened. She tried to remember the course of the past few weeks when suddenly it came to her. Of course, she and Jan went to the seaside for a weekend in May to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. They couldn't get away very often, so she did her best to spoil him and make everything perfect. The ocean was beautiful and the small cabin they were staying in was so romantic, it was easy to get lost in the moment and forget about everything else.

If she was right, she was about a month in. Now that she thought about it, she had sudden waves of exhaustion wash over her lately but she didn't think much of them. She started to suspect something was up when her breasts became more swollen and sensitive and when she started to feel sick in the mornings. But it wasn't until she realized her period was late that she decided to take a pregnancy test – and it turned out her guess was right.

She let out another sigh. It was late afternoon, so there were still a couple of hours before her husband came home. Jan had told her that she could call him at work if anything happened but this was something she would've preferred to tell face to face. They talked about having children before and Jan seemed to be on board with the idea, though he probably imagined it to be more planned. Then he could make a list and prepare everything like he always did, so by the time the baby was due, they would be ready and wouldn't have to worry about anything. Oh boy is he going to be surprised.

Her legs still felt a bit numb but she finally let go of the sink and took a few steps backwards, so she could see her full upper body in the big bathroom mirror. She tucked up the hem of her shirt to get a better look at her stomach. From the front, it still looked flat, so she turned around so that her side was facing the mirror. She couldn't decide if it was only her imagination or there really was the slightest of bumps showing already and she almost instinctively placed her hands on her belly.

Well, it wasn't like it was too late to make arrangements. She still had months to go. They still had plenty of time to get everything they needed and maybe they could turn the guest room into a nursery… Maddie let out a small giggle. She only found out she was expecting a few minutes ago and she was already thinking so far ahead. Her surprise started to ease and was replaced with some sort of excitement. Her smile grew wider and she shook her head a little. This was unbelievable. Ever since she started going out with Jan, she often imagined them having a family and now it was actually happening.

They had been married for a year now, had good incomes and a nice home. They bought the house right after the wedding. It wasn't very big but just right for them, in a peaceful neighborhood in Ottawa, close to the Rideau Canal. (Maddie had a guess that Jan choose this place to live because it reminded him of his old home in the Netherlands, though he would never admit it.) With the house came a small garden as well, which was carefully maintained by the Dutchman she had fallen in love with six years ago. Back then she was still in college and he was an employee at a big trading company. Now she was one of the photographers at a local magazine and he was the manager of the company's section in Ontario.

She could already think of a hundred things that needed to be done but first of all, she had to break the news to Jan.

* * *

If someone would've told Jan van Rijn six years ago that he'll be driving home on Friday nights at eight o'clock instead of staying at the office until ungodly hours, _on his own accord_, he would've told them to get lost. Yet, that was exactly what he was doing now and has been doing for the past few years, for the most part. And honestly, after another day of dealing with incompetence and sheer stupidity, it was really all he wanted to do.

The sun was already setting when Jan pulled the car over to the driveway. Getting out and walking up to the front door, he noted that the lawn needed mowing again and entered the house. The first thing he was greeted by was an eager muzzle which belonged to an equally eager golden retriever. Kuma was Madeline's dog but that didn't stop him from being obnoxiously affectionate with anyone and everyone who walked through that door. Jan was used to it by now though, so he just petted the animal's head which Kuma appreciated then turned around and trotted away, wagging his fuzzy tail.

Jan dropped his briefcase in the hallway for it to be taken to his study later, put his coat on the hanger and proceeded into the house. He heard the clinking of plates from the kitchen, so he stepped inside. Maddie was standing at the sink, washing the dishes from last night and quietly humming to herself, like she did when doing chores. When she heard the footsteps of the tall man, she turned around with that smile on her face that could light up his mood even on the worst days. Jan closed the distance between them with a few strides and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, kissing her cheek.

"Hi." Madeline said, leaning back against him, enjoying the closeness.

"Hey." Jan responded as he rested his chin on top of her head. "Need a hand with the dishes?"

"No, I'm almost done." she answered. "How was your day?"

Jan shrugged.

"The usual. I had to clean up everyone's mess." he muttered and gave Maddie one more kiss on her temple, before letting her go and loosening his tie a bit. He walked over to the fridge and took out a bier. "You want one?"

"No, thank you." she shook her head a bit and put the last plate on the dryer.

"And how was your day?" Jan asked, opening the can and taking a swing of his drink.

"It was great." Maddie replied with a strange serenity in her voice. She pulled out the plugs to let the water flow down from the sink, and then started to take off her apron, drying her hands in it in the meanwhile. "By the way, I have something to tell you."

"Really? What is it?" the Dutchman raised an eyebrow and a smile tugged his own lips. Even if he was still a little tense because of work, Madeline's good mood seemed to be contagious.

"Eh… Let's sit down." she said, gesturing towards the small kitchen table. She was a little flustered but also eager to share the news. They took their seats facing each other and Jan gave her a curios look. She entwined her fingers in front of herself and rested her elbows on the table before she began.

"You see… I have been feeling a little more tired than usual lately and had headaches." she confessed.

"Are you sick?" Jan asked with a worried expression.

"No, no, I'm fine, don't worry!" she quickly calmed him. "It's just that I haven't though much of them at first but…" she giggled when she noticed Jan's expression changed from concerned to confused.

"What I'm getting at is that… I'm pregnant." she finally said it.

There was a moment of silence. Jan blinked a few times.

"You're what?" he asked startled.

"I'm pregnant." Maddie repeated carefully and her smile wavered.

"You're…" Jan ran his fingers through his hair, swallowing hard.

"Is something wrong?" Madeline's voice snapped him out of his shock.

"I… It's just that we hadn't really planned this yet." Jan said, slight panic in his voice.

"But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing." the Canadian soothed him. Now it was her turn to get worried.

"It's still a pretty big deal." Jan pointed out and got up from his chair. He started walking around the kitchen and rubbed the back of his head.

"Of course it is! But I don't get it. I thought you were okay with having kids." Madeline said almost accusingly.

"I am. Or at least I thought I was…" he answered as he leaned back against the kitchen counter, folding his arms and fixing his gaze on the white tiles of the floor.

He really meant it when he said he would want a family but now that they would actually have a child in a foreseeable amount of time, he felt like he spoke too soon. What if he wasn't cut for being a parent? He knew how to run a business but raising kids? Him looking after someone who can't speak just cry, wants to be held all the time and needs a lot more patience and affection than any average adult? Joke of the year.

Not even his own sister, whom he had to look after by himself after they lost their parents, wanted to come with him when he moved to Canada. She choose to stay with some Spanish bloke she barely knew instead. After that Jan was pretty much done with caring for others and invested all his time and energy into work instead. He figured it paid off much better than relationships. Until he met Maddie. The Canadian blonde was hands down the best thing that ever happened to him. She had so much love to give and was basically his opposite in many ways. Madeline would be a perfect mother, that much he was certain of. She probably would've been better of with someone more suitable to be a father than him.

A pair of slipper-clad feet came into his flied of vision and soft hands were placed on his arms. He looked up, his green eyes meeting her violet ones. Others might have taken Jan's reaction to be simply cold but Madeline knew that expressing emotions weren't his strong point.

"Is this about your sister?" Maddie asked. Oh, she knew him so well.

"Maybe." Jan muttered.

"What she chose was her decision. It had nothing to do with you." she tried to comfort him. Jan looked away. They've been over this many times and he knew his wife's intentions were good but he really didn't feel like discussing this topic now.

Madeline let out a sigh. Jan could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Look, it's alright if you're afraid. But you don't have to do it alone this time. We're in this together." she said calmly and put her hands of his cheeks, turning his eyes back to her.

"Are you afraid too?" Jan asked.

"Yes, I am." she nodded, her smile returning to her face.

Without further comments, he pulled her into a tight embrace. She hugged him right back and buried her face into the crook of his neck. Maddie wanted to feel that protective love and safety she always felt when she was with Jan. He rested his chin on her head again and gently rubbed her back.

"Sorry for freaking out like that." he whispered. "I'll come around, really. And I'm sure you'll be a great mom."

"And I'm sure you'll be a great dad." she whispered back.

"I'll do my best." he replied, letting her go, so he could look at her face again. "How far are you, anyway?"

"About a month. I'll need to go to a checkup soon." she answered.

"So we still have about eight months to get things ready." Jan stated, his hands still around Maddie's waist.

"Yeah. But let's have dinner first, you must be hungry." she reminded him.

"That sounds good. I'll cook tonight, you get some rest." he offered. He might not have been totally used to the idea of being a parent yet but he wanted to be supportive.

"Alright." she chuckled then tiptoed to kiss him. Maybe they were running scared in the dark but at least they were holding each other's hand.

* * *

**A/N:**

Thank you for reading!

This is my first multichaper story. School will start for me again soon, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update but I'd like to manage once a month.

Please keep the comments and constructive critiques coming, they keep me motivated! :)

P.S. Like the summary says, there will be side pairings but their appearance will be minimal, I promise.


	2. Warmth

**Names:**

Marianne – fem!France

Amelia – fem!America

Emma – Belgium

(You probably know it but Arthur is England and Antonio is Spain.)

**Warning**: Mention of miscarriage.

* * *

Jan and Madeline both agreed that it would be better if they knew for sure before announcing anything to their friends and relatives. The visit to the gynecologist went smoothly, maybe apart from those few minutes they had to spend sitting in the waiting room.

Maddie could tell how uneasy Jan felt about being in a room full of women who were already in more advanced state of their pregnancy by just looking at him. He had to come along in case the doctor had some questions for him too but he clearly wanted to be anywhere else. He did his best to pull himself together as much as he could in the waiting room chair but, considering his tall statue, that effort was doomed to fail.

She really didn't blame him. Madeline herself has been worried for the past few days about whether or not everything was okay. Was their baby alright? Was it growing well? What if she misread the signs or the test was wrong and she wasn't even pregnant in the first place? Those and similar questions have been running through her head.

The Canadian woman let out a sigh and glanced over to her husband, who had fixed his eyes on the floor in the meanwhile. She sort of wished Jan would ask her how she felt or at least looked at her. Yearning for attention, she reached out and grabbed his hand.

The sudden touch pulled Jan out of his hazed thoughts and he looked back at Maddie. Noticing her longing gaze, he felt a pang of shame. _He_ was supposed to be giving _her_ moral support after all. He gave a small, half-apologetic, half-reassuring smile and entwined their fingers. Madeline smiled back and leaned against him, feeling more relaxed now. They stayed like that until the doctor finally called for them.

After a few simple tests confirmed that they were indeed looking forward to a new arrival, the next thing on the list was to inform their respective families. Maddie did so with much enthusiasm, calling her parents in London first. She ended up talking with her mother for almost an hour since Marianne wanted to know everything possible and eventually Arthur had to remind her that he'd like to talk to their daughter too. Madeline was glad that her father seemed to take the news with joy, since he had some objections against Jan when Maddie first started going out with the Dutchman. Finally, Marianne promised they'll visit them as soon as they get the chance.

Reaching her twin sister was a bit more difficult, since Amelia's schedule was rather busy. When she finally did call back, her reaction was as excited and full of sexual innuendos as Madeline had expected.

Jan actually had to hold the phone away from his ear when his little sister squealed upon hearing she's going to be an aunt. Emma gave them her best wishes and promised that if Jan and Maddie ever needed advice, they were free to call her. She and her husband, Antonio already had a three-year-old son after all.

The following weeks were quite hectic. Madeline's morning sickness became more intense and she was usually woken by the urge to throw up. They even had to put a bucket right next to the bed after a couple of unpleasant incidents. Although Jan knew there wasn't really anything to do about it, it frustrated him to see Maddie like this and that the most he could do was to kneel next to her and rub her back while she leaned over the toilet.

He also had to get used to always smoking outside the house after their health visitor gave him a speech on how badly second-hand smoking could affect a fetus. He wondered if it would be easier to quit smoking all together since Maddie also became more sensitive to certain smells, tobacco being one of them. She never really approved of Jan's smoking habits but she had made peace with it after a while. But now she was outright annoyed if she caught the scents of cigarettes on him whenever they were close.

Then there were also those sudden, unexplainable mood-swings. As happy as Maddie was about her pregnancy, occasionally feelings of fear, doubt and inadequacy would approach her. That, combined with the sleep-deprivation and nausea inducted exhaustion, often pushed her to the verge of tears, whether it was during work, shower, dinner or dog-walking.

The first couple of times Maddie had these unexpected emotional outbursts, it all but terrified Jan, mostly because he hadn't a clue what caused them. But he realized soon enough that there wasn't really an explanation to it and just gathered his little wife into his arms and held her until she wouldn't cry anymore. Even so, he felt pretty useless half the time. He did what he could but it didn't seem to be enough.

Ten weeks into the pregnancy and Madeline was having one of her crying episodes again. It happened on one of their quiet nights at home. As soon as Jan heard the smothered little sobs from the other end of the couch, he paused the movie they were watching and turned in Maddie's direction. The next second he already had his arms full of her, her wet face pressed against his chest. He didn't say a word, just leaned back on the couch, caressing her hair and back, occasionally kissing the top of her head.

She had no idea for how long she cried. When she finally calmed down somewhat, she pulled away from Jan and sat back next to him though not letting go of him completely.

"Thanks... I'm sorry you have to keep doing this…" she whispered, her voice a bit hoarse.

"Don't be sorry. I just wish I could do more." he said, putting an arm around her.

Maddie shook her head.

"You're doing fine. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Shouldn't you be taking a break from work then?" Jan asked.

"It's okay. I don't take extra tasks anymore. I'll probably take more time off when I'm further ahead." Maddie answered "If I get that far…"

Jan looked at her with a confused frown.

"What do you mean?"

Maddie turned her gaze away.

"Most miscarriages happen in the first trimester…" she mumbled.

"That doesn't mean you'll miscarry!" Jan said with indignation. He realized he raised his voice unintentionally, so he took a deep breath to calm himself. "So… this is what's been making you upset?"

"I know it's silly but I can't help thinking about it. There are so many things that could go wrong, Jan. I don't know what I'll do if something happens!" Madeline confessed, looking back at him almost desperately, tears picking her eyes again. This had been plaguing her for the past two months but she didn't dare to tell Jan. She didn't want him to get worried.

Jan tightened his grip on her.

"Maddie, there's nothing wrong with you." he said.

That didn't seem to convince Madeline. Jan sighed again.

"Look, I can't promise that everything's going to be alright. But I can promise that whatever happens, you'll never lose me. And I'll be there to help you through everything." he stated, looking her deep in the eyes.

"Thank you." Maddie said quietly and finally a small smile crawled up on her face.

Jan lifted her chin with his free hand to place a kiss on her lips. She kissed back with much eagerness and not even the taste of tobacco bothered her this time. After pulling away, she rested her head on his shoulder. In return, Jan laid his head on top of Maddie's, while looking down on her little tummy, which was barely visible through her shirt at this point but definitely there. He almost involuntarily put a hand over it and he felt some strange warmth spreading in his chest.

Madeline was a bit surprised by the gesture, since Jan never touched her like that before. She wasn't about to complain, though. She just placed her hand on top of his and cuddled up even tighter to Jan's side. She felt content, knowing that both her and her future child were loved and protected.

* * *

Sorry, this chapter took so long and in comparison it's pretty short. I hope I'll be able to update again before the end of this month but no promises. :(

Also, the next chapter might contain smut, just a heads up!


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